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| Thane McCann '97 assists Associate Professor of Biology Margaret Peeler in her ongoing research on embryonic cell development. |
Late July finds Nicole Purcell ‘96 in the student research lab at Fisher Science Hall reading the signature trails of DNA on a film affixed to a light box. “There’s a G,A,A,C, T,G,C, back to T.” She is completing a process called gel sequencing to determine the structure of genes of cattle antibodies.
Purcell, who entered graduate school in September at the University of Alabama in molecular and cellular pathology, was assisting Assistant Professor of Biology Tammy Tobin-Janzen for the second summer performing basic research to expand understanding of cattle immune systems
Down the hall Reade Roberts ‘97 and Tara Gower ‘96, now a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, conducted cardiac cell research related to treatment of high blood pressure with Assistant Professor of Biology Tom Peeler. Elsewhere in the buildingJason Quinn ‘98 is analyzing research data on the lunar atmosphere with Professor of Physics Fred Grosse; and other student/faculty teams are investigating embryo development in sea urchins, water quality in the Adirondacks, and properties of organometallic compounds.
A Summer Stipend Pilot Project
A record number of students were on campus conducting research this summer, thanks in part to a University pilot project funded by the Charles Degenstein Endowment. The grant provided 10-week stipends for students in the departments of physics, environmental science, biology and chemistry, plus housing for students.
“Having a critical mass of people working here in the summer helps to establish an ongoing, year-round scientific community to promote both student learning and faculty development,” explains Tom Peeler
The stipends add to a variety of other sources for research funding, including University faculty development and research grants and outside grants. Tobin-Janzen is in her final year of a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH also provides funding for ongoing projects directed by both Tom Peeler and Associate Professor of Biology Margaret Peeler. The lunar atmosphere research is partially funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Joint Venture (NASA/JOVE) project.
Off-Campus Data and Colleagues
The summer on-campus projects are just one facet of research by Susquehanna students and faculty. Associate Professor of Biology Jack Holt and Heather Vorhauer ‘97 traveled abroad in July to conduct research on a Russian lake. Deb Morrow ‘96 received a prestigious Research Experience for Undergraduates grant from the National Science Foundation to continue her research through the summer before starting graduate school at the University of Akron. Morrow and Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Chris Cirmo continued to work with colleagues from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences on stream flow controls in the White Clay Creek, near Avondale, Pa.
Morrow also presented research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of North Carolina at Asheville last April. She was also one of 46 Susquehanna students -- the largest number ever -- to present findings at the University’s Student Scholar Day in April. The projects covered 14 different fields from psychology and political science to English and communications. They reported on research topics ranging from school choice and corporate mergers to numerous topics in the sciences.
Collective Benefits
The diverse projects are clear evidence of a flourishing research program that provides collective benefits to the students, faculty, University and the community.
For students, research provides an active way of learning that creates a richer, better understanding of information and skills required to succeed in their field. That’s why exposing students to techniques like DNA sequencing is so valuable as a teaching tool, explains Tobin-Janzen. “It’s not an easy process to describe in a classroom. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense until you actually do it.”
The exposure also provides a realistic look at what the students might be doing when they graduate. “Some students have the perception that research is glamorous,” says Cirmo, “and it’s just plain not. It’s a lot of hard work, some of it very routine work, and that’s part of science.” Other students may view research as limited to the process of technicians using various tools, which is also a misconception, adds Cirmo. “The most important thing we as scientists give them is the ability to think creatively.”
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| Noel Watkins '97, right, conducted summer research in biology with Assistant Professor of Biology David Richard. |
Collaborative Efforts
The ultimate goal of research is better preparation to compete for jobs and acceptances to graduate and professional schools. “The value of my research experience really hit me when I started interviewing for graduate school,” says Purcell. “People are very excited to hear what you’ve done and the techniques that you know.” They are interested in the details, she adds, “and if they ask a question, you can answer it.”
The chance to collaborate with faculty and other students is particularly important. “Knowledge, new knowledge especially, rarely comes as a neat package. It more likely comes as a welter of data that has to be wrestled into place,” says University President Joel Cunningham. “It can often be brought into some semblance of order through the collaborative efforts of a group.”
“The quality and quantity of collaboration between faculty and students is unusual for a college of this sort,” says Laurie Crumpacker, dean of the school of arts and sciences and former director of the master’s degree program in liberal studies at Simmons College in Boston. “This seems to be close to graduate level work being done by undergraduates.”
Research advantages to the faculty member include the chance to build rapport with students. “I get much more joy out of watching a student learn through the research process than I actually do seated at the bench myself,” says Tobin-Janzen.
Faculty also gain an opportunity for continued scholarly growth. Collaborative work with students can help shorten the amount of time required to complete a research project. And when it comes time to publish results in professional journals, many Susquehanna faculty members regularly include or encourage talented student researchers to publish on their own. Such publication is an impressive addition to an undergraduate student’s resume
Practical Applications
Products of such research go beyond the campus to benefit the local community. Sigmund Weis School of Business students regularly conduct original market research to help formulate marketing plans for local business ranging from a Toyota dealer to Walnut Acres, a natural foods mail-order business in nearby Penn’s Creek. Jeremy Zeisloft ‘97 recently completed a summer internship conducting market research for Cole’s Hardware, a 10-store chain. Assistant Professor of Management Paul Dion served as faculty advisor for the project, one of a series of periodic student research efforts that owners Bo and Greg Cole ‘83 use to measure the effectiveness of their customer service.
Jake Dinsmore ‘96 and Jerry Dundore ‘96, supervised by Degenstein Distinguished Professor of Environmental Sciences Frank Fletcher, collected data that may help the community of Selinsgrove protect groundwater resources around the public well supply. Adam Hackenberg ‘96 assisted in Department of Environmental Science research to apply geographic information system (GIS) technology to classify wetlands in Snyder County. The project not only allowed Hackenberg to work with cutting-edge computer software, says Cirmo, who supervised the research, but also helps provide a valuable source of land use planning information for local agencies and governments.
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| Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, Chris Cirmo, left, Deb Morrow '96 and Eric Palmer, a field technician for the Stroud Water Research Laboratory of the Phildelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, test water samples on the White Clay Creek near Avondale, Pennsylvania. |
Primary Research Value
Professor of History Donald Housley routinely enlists student research to interpret materials in the University archives. The Department of History also recently revamped a required senior seminar to focus on individual research with a faculty mentor on a single topic. “We wanted to create projects that incorporated primary source material in much the same way that you see it happening in the sciences,” explains Department Head Linda McMillin.
Eight students in an Honors-level American art history class took on a semester-long, small group research project last fall to investigate the background of a series of University-owned prints fine art prints. “At the start they were just prints hanging in the library, we didn’t even know where they came from,” explained Assistant Professor of Art History Valerie Livingston, director of the University’s Lore Degenstein Gallery.
The project presented an unusual opportunity to do primary research and follow through with the museum curatorship process. “They really took ownership in the project,” explains Livingston. “When they came across a little scrap of information, it was as if they found gold.” A selection from among the 46 prints donated in 1976 by Robert U. Redpath, then a member of the university's board of directors, was exhibited this spring along with accompanying material from the students' investigations.
Project Kaleidoscope
Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), an informal national alliance committed to strengthening undergraduate programs in science, math, engineering and technology education provides some of the impetus to support even more primary research at Susquehanna. Tom Peeler and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chris Janzen are both participants in a PKAL “Faculty for the 21st Century” project designed to identify and equip young faculty to help disseminate ideas that can enhance science education. The alliance previously cited Susquehanna for innovative design of Fisher Science Hall to include spaces that would promote collaboration between students and faculty.
Having research projects continue through the summer is also a big boost to collaborative process. The research process helps students get beyond the idea of just talking or thinking about science in the classroom environment, stresses Peeler. “Faculty members have more time, students aren’t rushing off to another class and worrying about the test they have tomorrow,” says Peeler. “It’s building a community of scientific scholarship.”
And while the summer stipend pilot project targeted the sciences, Peeler would like to see a similar project applied campus wide, because “all disciplines can benefit from the added chance for student-faculty interaction.”